Unseen Virtue
by etienneofthewestwind
Summary: AU: Kira and Athrun share a different past. When Athrun's seed activates in the first battle after the Archangel departs Orb, secrets emerge, and the war changes.
1. Chapter 1

**Unseen Virtue  
by étienneofthewestwind**

This is a compilation of a few AU ideas. I've changed the histories and actions of several characters, which will be revealed in time. I have this story planned out and will complete it. However, I work full time nights and have other real life obligations that impact my writing time.

In determining the outline for this story, I used the Seed anime, Seed & Seed Destiny manga, and information from Bandai's site, GundamOfficial. Based on the stated ages of Kira and Nicol at various points in the anime, I decided that Bandai's age listings were valid for March 1, 71 CE. So at the start of this story, Flay and Dearka are sixteen and eighteen instead of fifteen and seventeen.

Seed hints strongly that English is the main language used to communicate globally, but its likely placement on the A.D. calendar is not enough time for all other languages to die out. Since Orb/Aube is a nonexistent cluster of islands, it gets its own fictional language, which has a strong Japanese influence. In other words, I get to play around with different spellings, random and made up words.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own--As if my researching the series' rich history and character bios didn't clue everyone in.

* * *

"ATHRUN!" Nicol shouted, racing his Blitz to where the Earth Alliance's Strike stood. The Strike had its sword raised over the fallen Aegis. The red mobile suit turned pale gray as the robotic fighter lost Phase Shift, its armor against physical attacks. The Strike still had color, but Nicol had managed to score its Phase Shift with a beam saber earlier--just before the Strike cut off the Blitz's right arm.

"ATHRUN! STAY BACK!" Nicol dropped the invisibility of his Mirage Colloid to activate Phase Shift. With the Gleipnir destroyed, and the Trikeros arm not currently attached to his fighter, he had just one shot at this. _I _must _hit that tear. Otherwise, I'm_ _dead._

"NICOL! DON'T!" Athrun's voice roared through Nicol's cockpit as Nicol dashed forward, a Lancer Dart held tightly in the mobile suit's left hand. _If nothing else, Athrun'll esc--_

Suddenly, the Aegis stood between the Blitz and the Strike. Unable to stop his advance in time, Nicol's weapon speared the Aegis' left shoulder. The Strike stepped back, leaving its sword lodged in the right side of the Aegis, just below the cockpit.

Nicol stared in horror. _Athrun, I..._

The Strike's hand flew at the Aegis' chest as Nicol's dart detonated. The force blew the Aegis' arm off, and tipped the suit forward into the Strike's arms. The loud sound of ripped metal spurred Nicol into action. He rushed forward as the Strike drew back. The Aegis' self-destruct charges exploded, throwing the Blitz backwards several yards. The wall of flames blocked the Strike from view.

"ATHRUN!" Nicol yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. His main battery drained, Blitz's Phase Shift dropped as an alarm sounded in Nicol's cockpit. He forced the Blitz to its feet. Through his radio, he heard Yzak and Dearka demand answers. They got them when the Duel and Buster landed behind the Blitz.

"Athrun..." Dearka breathed. "No way..."

Yzak cursed loudly. "YOU'RE DEAD, STRIKE! YOU HEAR ME? _DEAD!_" Yzak attempted to rush through the fire, but the Duel got thrown back by a secondary explosion.

"We need to resupply first," Dearka said calmly. "YZAK!" he called more sharply as the Duel tried to race around the flames.

The wall of flames subsided. Nicol watched as the Strike boarded the legged ship, back turned to its three enemies.

* * *

The white mobile suit came to a halt in the hanger, its giant hands held in front of it. The technical crew watched stunned as the Strike knelt to the floor. In its hands lay an unconscious youth wearing a red and white ZAFT flight suit. "Help him!" a voice cried out from the Strike.

* * *

"STUPID! MORON! FUCKWIT! HOW_ DARE _YOU DIE?" A metallic bang punctuated each of the white-haired youth's words as he savagely kicked and punched the door to Athrun's locker. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! _IDIOT_!"

The locker rooms' other two occupants had changed quietly as the tantrum played itself out. But as Yzak paused to catch his breath, Nicol spoke. "I'm sorry, Yzak."

The white haired teen spun around. He had cold blue eyes and a nasty scar that ran diagonally from his forehead, under his right eye, and down his cheek. "What?"

The green-haired boy swallowed hard as tears welled in his brown eyes. "I'm sorry. Everything happened so fast, and I thought I warned him, but--"

Yzak grabbed the front of the shorter boy's red uniform and shoved him up against the lockers. "Don't tell me you're blaming yourself!" he hissed. The other boy looked down without a word. "IT'S THAT GODDAMNED STRIKE! HOW _DARE_ YOU WASTE THE ENERGY WE NEED TO AVENGE ATHRUN!?" Yzak drew back his right arm, balling his hand into a fist.

"YZAK!" Dearka quickly seized Yzak's wrist before he could throw the punch. "He won't be any help if you pound him senseless," the tall blonde chided.

"I _KNOW _THAT!" Yzak yelled, pulling his wrist free. He leaned forward, so his face was only an inch away from Nicol's. "THE STRIKE KILLED MIGUEL, TOO! AND COMMANDER WALTFELD! SO IF YOU WANT TO BLAME SOMEONE, BLAME _HIM_! AND TAKE HIM OUT! _NO MATTER WHAT_!"

Yzak released Nicol. He crossed his arms over chest and slumped back against his locker. Everyone was silent as he forced himself to take several deep breaths. "Unless we hear otherwise from Commander Le Creuset," Yzak said, "I'm in charge now. The ship's captain has orders to search for the legged ship. The minute it shows, we attack. We must _not _allow it to escape us again. If we don't sink the legged ship within the next few days, it'll be in Earth Forces' airspace and out of reach.

"Rest up. We'll need to be at the top of our game." Yzak gave Athrun's locker one last kick before he stalked out of the room.

* * *

"...The only other salvageable part of the Aegis was it's left arm," the technician reported as they walked along the catwalk over the _Costeou's_ maintenance bay. Below them, several people worked over two gray arms, the Blitz's distinguished by its Trikeros shield.

In front of Dearka, Yzak nodded. "And the flight recorder? Smith said you found something. How do we get the Strike?"

"The flaw was in the Aegis," the ZAFT regular replied as he lead the three pilots into a small room. "See for yourself." He sat and typed at the computer station. The monitors began displaying the same data they would in a cockpit.

The camera feed showed the Strike as it jumped down, its sword raised overhead as the Aegis aimed a beam rifle. The image burst into a scramble of squares. When the signal cleared, the Strike stood before the Aegis, the latter's beam weapon sliced in half. **_"Retreat, already!" _**a voice spilled from the recording. **_"You guys... lost!"_**

**_"How _****dare_ you!?" _**Athrun responded. He activated a beam saber and the image went blank.

"Was that the Strike pilot?" Dearka asked.

"He has a lot of nerve," Yzak growled.

"Given the Aegis' power level, it was sound advice," the technician muttered dryly as he tapped the lower left monitor, "just designed to goad your leader into recklessness. Sometimes an enemy's best weapon can be your own temper."

**_"Stop it!" _**the strange voice crackled from the black screen.**_ "...Don't wan... fight you anymore!"_**

**_"...Too late… that!" _**Athrun sounded even angrier than before.**_ "Shoot... said bef... destroy... next time."_**

The video came back in time for Dearka to see the Strike grab the Aegis and _punch _the red mobile suit's face. The Aegis fell on its back. The Strike raised its sword. The Aegis' power dropped to the reserve battery, shutting down its Phase Shift.

**_"...Hrun!" _**The Aegis' radio display indicated _two _incoming transmissions. The Aegis automatically linked both channels.**_ "Athrun! Stay back!" _**

The Aegis stood faster than Dearka had thought possible. **_"NIC-" _**The sound cut completely out.

But the recording clearly showed the Strike duck and turn as the Blitz charged. The Aegis moved as the Strike swung its energy sword. The recording ended when the Aegis stopped between the two suits.

"'Nicol, don't'." Dearka turned to the green haired pilot. Nicol's brown eyes stared unfocused at the screen. "With the static, I wasn't sure I heard right. Then he was between us, so I assumed he hadn't heard me at all..." The fifteen year-old began breathing faster. "But I'd given myself away. I was supposed to save him, not kill him."

Yzak slapped Nicol across the face. "The _Aegis _gave your presence away. I don't know why it automatically treated the Strike's transmission as friendly, but from where you emerged, you'd have first seen that blade when it bisected your cockpit--and you. Athrun died because he failed to effectively counter the Strike.

"I'll grant it was a stupid, pointless death," Yzak continued. Nicol clenched his fists and glared at Yzak. "But--"

"Saving my life was stupid and pointless?" Nicol asked quietly, his voice hard and sharp as diamonds. The small pilot stood perfectly still, eyes locked with Yzak's.

Dearka had not thought the gentle pianist could get so angry.

Nicol's rage surprised Yzak too. Their default commander took a step backwards before he snarled at Nicol: "The _reason _behind it was stupid and pointless! Those suits are supposed to keep us alive, not betray us!"

"Yeah, and too bad it wasn't me! Right?" Nicol shot back.

"_WHAT_!?"

"I know what you think of me," the youngest teen spat. "Soft. Weak. Coward. Why? 'Cause I look at things differently? I've fought as many battles as you, and still--You're not _worth _trying to prove myself to! Call me when it's time to sortie!" Nicol turned to leave the room.

"Hey!" Dearka exclaimed. He rushed forward and seized Nicol's arm as he reached the door. "Yzak knows you're no coward. He's just--"

Nicol pulled his arm free and drilled his eyes into Dearka's. "_He's_ called me a coward to my face! And _you_ agreed! At least have the guts to stand by it!" He stormed from the room.

* * *

_Finally, _Yzak thought when word came that the carrier had spotted a ship. In the two days since Athrun's demise, Nicol had been quiet and polite the few times he could not avoid Yzak or Dearka. But Yzak had known that the green-haired pilot's anger remained. It was an invisible cloud that followed the boy everywhere.

At least Nicol directed most of his energy at the monitors as the sonar operator confirmed contact with the legged ship.

"Finally!" Dearka exclaimed. "Today's the day we avenge Athrun! And your scar, too, Yzak."

Yzak ignored the blonde's statement as he gave the order to launch. As he turned to go to his mobile suit, he heard Nicol mutter: "I'll get him, Athrun. I promise."

* * *

They rose to attack with the sun. The _Costeou _surfaced and launched their suits as the Naturals doubtlessly detected their presence. The Duel, the Blitz and the Buster shot into the air in rapid succession. Then Guuls for each launched into the air. The suits landed on their platforms and raced toward the legged ship.

"Let's do it!" Dearka exclaimed as he fired a sniper beam.

The enemy ship evaded. The Strike walked onto the rear deck. One of their fighter planes launched. The ZAFT fighters traded fire with the legged ship. The Strike fired several shots of its beam weapon at the Duel's Guul.

Yzak dodged. Dearka fired both his beam weapon and gun launcher simultaneously. Nicol fired several shots from his beam weapon.

The Strike blocked Nicol's shots with its shield. As it lifted up off the deck, Yzak saw his chance. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed as he fired energy blasts from the assault shroud on the Duel's shoulders.

The Strike dodged and returned fire.

Dearka engaged the plane in a one-on-one dogfight. Nicol hit a couple of the ship's Igelstellungs. The ship shuttered visibly.

The next second, Nicol had to dodge Gottfried blasts. Yzak dove towards the Strike, pulling out a beam saber. "I'll never forgive you!" he cried.

The Strike met him with a beam saber of its own. "BASTARD!" Yzak snarled. Their initial charges failed to do damage to either suit. Then Yzak took note of his position relative to the legged ship, and decided to try something even he would call crazy. He drew back the Duel's hand and threw the still activated beam saber at one of the ship's nacelles. The weapon sailed down beam first, but cut off from the Duel's battery, the beam visibly faded just before it hit.

_Idiot! _Yzak cursed himself. _You should have known there would not be that much residual ener--_

An explosion ripped open the nacelle in question.

Yzak grinned._ Am I a genius, or what?_

The next thing Yzak knew, a shot from the Strike grazed the Duel's left leg. He lost balance and toppled off his Guul. The last thing he saw before hitting the ocean was the Blitz engaging the Strike.

* * *

He wanted to stay asleep. But the bed kept shaking. _Whoever it is, I'll hit 'em, _he thought grumpily. _Or put honey in their hair_ _and set a sweet-toothed cat on 'em. 'Less it's Tolle, then I'll just yell 'Thief!' the next time we--_

The bed rocked _hard_, this time accompanied by the sound of an explosion. "Wha..." he groaned blearily as the sound registered. _Is there an eruption? _

"Torii!" a sharp cry filled the air. A light weight settled on his chest. "Torii?"

With another groan, he opened his eyes. He instantly regretted it. Bright light harshly invaded his vision. He saw two blurry mechanical birds peering at him. The green and yellow heads were cocked sideways. The two bird's merged into one, before splitting back up. With a groan, he closed his eyes.

"Torii?" He heard a flap of wings, then the bird's feet landed on his chin. He felt a light tugging on his bangs. He opened his eyes again to find the robot preening his navy blue hair.

At least he only saw one this time.

"Torii!" the bird called when it saw his open eyes.

With a groan, he lifted an arm to knock the bird off. He could not move it past halfway.

"Awake are you?" a voice came from the right. Turning, he saw a man with short gray hair. He wore a white lab coat. The bird hopped onto the pillow. "Hello, Athrun, I'm Dr. Zeks. How are you feeling?" the man asked and sat by the bed. He pulled out a penlight.

_Athrun? _he wondered, the name echoing through the fog in his head. _Athrun... Asuran._

"My... name?" he asked slowly, stumbling over the English words. "How... do you...?"

"Kira told us," the man replied. He leaned over Asuran and shined the light _into _his eyes. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Asuran closed his eyes and turned away from the flashlight. What _was_ the last thing he remembered? All his memories of school and the orphanage swirled around in a disjointed sequence. He could not say which one was most recent. Then the doctor's earlier words registered. "Ni-chan?" He sat up to look around. After a wave of dizziness, he saw a plain white wall to his left. On his right, curtains were pulled to the far ends of the bed. The doctor sat next to them. The room beyond the doctor stood empty. "Where?"

The room shook again as an explosion sounded. "Fighting," the brown-eyed doctor answered grimly. "Your companions are trying one last time to sink us before we reach Alaskan airspace." The doctor grabbed Asuran's chin and held his head steady as he pointed the light at him. "I need check to how your pupils react to the light. It won't take long."

"Alaskan?" Asuran asked, the word coming out more as 'Raskan'. He frowned as the doctor turned the flashlight back on. Not only did he have trouble pronouncing the words, his voice sounded strange. Deeper. "Fight? Sink?" _That all sounds like it should mean something._

A _loud_ explosion sounded. The mechanical bird launched into the air as the room suddenly sloped towards Asuran's feet. A voice spilled through an intercom: "All hands, brace for impact!" Asuran and the doctor were thrown towards the right as the entire room shuddered. The doctor caught the bedpost with his left hand and threw his right arm out to catch Asuran. As Asuran's chest slammed into the doctor's hand, something jerked his left wrist painfully back.

Asuran fell back on the bed as the doctor stood. The blue haired boy looked at his wrist. A black plastic cuff encircled it, and a strong plastic rope connected the cuff to the side of the bed. Asuran quickly glanced at his right arm, and found a similar restraint.

With the discovery, Asuran's breath sped up. "Why am I tied?" he demanded.

"It's SOP for enemy combatants," the doctor replied.

"Enemy?" Asuran repeated, growing cold with terror. He stared into the room, eyes unfocused as the word triggered a rush of memory:

_A huge man with red hair and scary eyes glared as blood flowed from his muscular arm... A silver van racing out of sight while arms grabbed him from behind... Blond curls and dull eyes... Rusty brown words:_

_Those who shelter mankind's enemy shall not be tolerated__._

A wave of anger crashed into Asuran, burning away the fear. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO SAKURA!?" he roared. He rolled onto his side and kicked at the gray haired man. _"KAIJOU!" _He shrieked, switching languages. Not satisfied with merely calling him a monster, he hurled out a few obscenities as he pulled against his bonds. Pain seared his wrists.

"Take it easy!" Zeks commanded, as he seized Asuran's shoulders and attempted to push him back onto the bed. Asuran twisted sideways, trying to get his feet within range of the doctor. The man merely moved further towards the head of the bed. The doctor maintained his grip.

"WE COULDN'T STAND EACH OTHER, FUCKWIT!" Asuran kept struggling as tears began to flow from his eyes. He could feel the cuff digging into his left wrist. "She's not... SHE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!" Actually, their teacher had just forced him and the pest to become partners in cooking class, but that was no reason to target her. And nothing that the bigot needed to know, anyway.

Asuran quit pushing against the doctor's hands and threw his back against the mattress. Zeks, not expecting the abrupt stop to the blue haired boy's movements, toppled onto the bed next to Asuran. As his captive threw his head towards Zeks' right arm, the doctor released Asuran's left shoulder and threw his arm away from the approaching teeth.

Zeks may have avoided the bite, but the knee to the groin connected firmly. The doctor cried out and rolled away from Asuran. As the doctor hobbled over to Asuran's feet, two men in white uniforms burst into the room. They held rifles. Zeks caught Asuran's feet. Alarmed, Asuran glared at the doctor and tried to pull his feet free.

"ASURAN!" the doctor roared. The blue haired boy froze as he registered the slight shift in the doctor's pronunciation of his name. "You're sixteen," the doctor spoke in perfect Gato as he hoisted the captive back onto the bed. "You're saf--NO!" the doctor rapidly switched back to English. "DON'T HIT HIM, MORON!"

Asuran turned back to the uniformed men just in time to see the advancing rifle butt. The base slammed into his forehead. Asuran's head spun and white stars filled his vision as he fell limply onto the bed. He saw the rifle butt descend again...

And promptly move away as the doctor snatched the rifle. "Attack any of my patients again," the doctor said in a low, dangerous voice. "And I'll shove this up your arse!" He seized the barrel of the second guy's rifle.

"Sir, I was just trying to knock the prisoner out," a man's voice protested.

"That's the _last_ thing someone with a head injury needs!" Zeks retorted.

Asuran blinked up at the ceiling. It grew blurrier. "Torii?" Asuran turned to the fuzzy bird as the image split up.

"Sir, the prisoner was extremely hostile," the second of the two men said. "Surely you can treat him better now that he's calm."

"A blow to the head never _calmed_ anyone. My patient was panicked, and I've experience dealing with that--Yes, even in Coordinators. Now get out!"

"But if he becomes disrupt--"

"You'll stay out and leave it to me! That's an order!"

Distantly, Asuran heard the door open and close. He thought he heard Zeks asking him to try to stay awake.

* * *

"ARGH!" Nicol growled as the Strike's shots grazed the edge of the Blitz's arm. The rebuilt arm refused to respond as before. Granted, the differences were minor, but already at a disadvantage from the loss of the Gleipnir, Nicol hated the thought of more. He blocked more fire with his shield.

Ironically, Nicol had never performed this well against the Strike before. _Either the Aegis damaged it, _he thought, _or his brain's in a different fight._

Lightning danced across the darkening sky. A shot from the Strike hit the Guul under the Blitz. Nicol jumped off the flight platform and kicked it towards the Strike. _Good thing we're over an island. _The Blitz landed several meters away from the beach. The Strike dodged the wrecked Guul and flew towards the Blitz. Nicol opened fire with the beam weapon in his Trikeros. The downpour started as the Strike fired its beam weapon. Nicol continued firing as he dodged.

He wove his way towards the Strike, which landed in front of a cluster of five small trees. One of Nicol's shots hit Strike's rifle. The Strike hurled the weapon at the Blitz. Nicol dodged, then found a pair of beam sabers descending above him. Nicol leapt back and drew his own beam sabers.

As the Blitz tussled with the Strike, Nicol's proximity alarm sounded. He found one of the legged ship's fighter planes bearing down on him as it fired. Nicol lost his left saber as he jumped away from the plane's shots, and absently noted that the Strike's sabers had lost power. Nicol fired a Lancer Dart at the new arrival. The slender missile penetrated the cockpit--and the pilot's skull--before it exploded. The wreckage fell into the ocean.

**_CLAANGK! KABROOM! BRAANG!_**

The Strike had discarded the beam sabers and the red and black weapons' pack. The white suit emptied the shells loaded on either side of its head as it furiously pounded the Blitz with its feet, hands, and a pair of knives that it pulled out of its hips. With the Blitz's Phase Shift activated, the shells and knives mostly drained the primary battery. However, the Strike's feet and hands also had Phase Shift active, which lead to dents and gashes the knives could penetrate. One of the knives knocked out the interface for Nicol's other saber. Nicol caught the Strike's right wrist in the Blitz's left hand. The Strike struggled to pull free and continued to batter with its free hand and feet. Nicol spotted some scores in the Phase Shift on the Strike's right arm. He fired the remaining Lancer Darts. The first flew off into the distance when the arm moved. The other hit and exploded in the Strike's side.

Nicol's energy gage alarmed. The Blitz only had reserve power left.

* * *

"Signal the Blitz to withdraw," Yzak instructed. The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Have repair crews standing by to work on the Duel and Buster the minute we land. Keep the legged ship in sight. Do _not _let it get away."

_Damn!_ Yzak swore silently.

The first sortie he ever led had been a disaster…

_After the Duel landed in the ocean, Yzak hiked his suit up onto a nearby island. There he rendezvoused with his Guul--the platform had switched to autopilot after his fall and glided down to meet him. Given that the typical ZAFT GINN was_ _far less likely to survive a fall than the captured prototypes, Yzak wondered why ZAFT's programmers had bothered with that feature._

_Still, it got him back into the fight. _

_He arrived to find the Blitz and Strike out of sight. He watched the Buster take a hit from a fighter plane and fall in front of the legged ship's weapons at point-blank range. Heart racing, Yzak fired at the plane, and damaged the wing. He then took out the weapon banks that threatened the Buster._

_Yzak looked to the Buster and saw Dearka standing in the Buster's open cockpit, without his flight helmet on. The blonde wore a sheepish expression as he lowered his hands to his sides._ He tried to _surrender_?

_That realization cut through the odd adrenaline surge that had engulfed Yzak when he realized Dearka's danger. Furiously, he grabbed the Buster's arm, pushed the cockpit closed, and flew the hell out of there. Yzak fired off a withdrawal flare, though he doubted Nicol could tell which side launched it, even if the Blitz remained close enough to spot it. The signal seemed to satisfy the legged ship, though. It did not fire as the Duel retreated..._

_Of course, _Yzak reflected as he lowered the Buster onto the submarine carrier, _they have their own problems to worry about. Nicol better not have damaged the Blitz. I doubt the Buster will be running before the legged ship hits Alaskan airspace, and if the Bli--_

"NO!" he snarled as he slammed his fist onto his console. _We've come too far to hand this off to a couple of DINNs._ _We _have _to relaunch before the legged ship can move! _

Yzak descended to make his own entrance onto the_ Costeou_. He frowned at the storm moving up the horizon. It would not make their job any easier. Yzak stepped off the Guul. As he walked the Duel into the hangar, its sensors registered an explosion from the storm's direction. A heartbeat later _Costeou's _mobile suit control officer spoke: "We've lost Blitz."

* * *

Next: Orb launches a search and rescue operation, and Athrun learns some things.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: **It turns out I do own Gundam Seed--just not beyond a DVD set. This is for fun, not profit as I own no character rights.

* * *

_Two weeks after temporarily becoming the Zala team, the four redcoats of the Le Creuset team had finally tracked down the legged ship. They launched from the submarine carrier, and attacked the Earth ship, flying their mobile suits on Guuls. _

_The legged ship quickly launched a fighter plane, and the Strike walked out onto the deck. With the space ship's maneuverability confined to a short distance above the ocean's surface, the advantage seemed to be with the ZAFT soldiers. _

_Dearka ignored the fire coming down from the plane and combined the Buster's beam weapon and gun launcher into its long range snipping configuration. He fired the gun at the legged ship. The ship tried to evade, but the beam grazed the side. The ship returned fire with both its Valiants and Wombats. The ZAFT quartet had to scatter from their formation. _

_Athrun fired the Aegis' beam weapon at the smoking side of ship. At the same time, the Duel fired off the missiles in the Assault Shroud. "What are you thinking, Dearka?" Yzak complained as he maneuvered the Duel away from the returned fire. "Hurry up and stop the ship all ready!"_

_"I know! Keep your pants on!" Dearka retorted._

_Yzak dodged from the Strike. The plane went after Dearka. The legged ship launched several missiles that Yzak barely avoided. "Yzak!" Athrun called. "Don't go too far on your own!"_

_"SHUT UP!" Yzak retorted with his usual venom, though he slowed his advance at the ship._

_"Try to aim at their engines," Athrun continued. "Nicol try to flank them from port!"_

_"Right!" Nicol acknowledged as he looped the Blitz toward the left. _

_Athrun fired and took out a pair of the Earth vessels' guns. Nicol fired all three of his Lancer Darts into the side of the ship. They exploded, and the legged ship began to slowly loose some of its altitude._

_The Aegis and the ship exchanged fire. Athrun soon had to dodge fire from the Strike as well. The Duel approached. "Stay back Athrun! I'll get this guy!" Yzak called as the Duel closed in on the Strike._

_"Yzak, don't be reckless!" Athrun called after him._

_Yzak ignored his order and continued to rush the Strike. The Strike promptly shot the Duel's Guul out from under it. The Duel drew its beam saber and attempted to land on the battleship, but the Strike jumped up to meet him. Its own beam saber disabled the Duel's. "WHAT!?" Yzak cried in frustration._

_"Yzak!" Nicol cried as the Strike flipped and landed on the Duel's back. The Strike jumped off, dodging the shots of the falling suit._

_Nicol realized a second too late that the Strike's ascent would reach his Guul. For one horrible instant as he attempted to counter the attack, Nicol thought he was finished. Rather than go for a killing blow, the Strike merely knocked the Blitz off. The blue and white suit then trashed the Guul. "NICOL!" he heard Athrun call as he fell._

_The Blitz hit the water's surface, and the battle vanished from sight. As he sank, Nicol looked for the Duel. He quickly spotted Yzak's suit, all ready being loaded onto the _Costeou_. A few minutes later, the Duel and Blitz stood side-by-side in the _Costeou's _hangar. _

_With the Phase Shift powered off, the two mobile weapons looked like giant metal statues._

_Yzak and Nicol remained in their cockpits as technicians effected repairs and topped off the suits' batteries. Another team of mechanics readied a fresh pair of Guuls. As he waited, Nicol pulled up the bridge's feed on the battle. Athrun and Dearka had held their own so far._

_"We have a large number of surface contacts approaching from the east," the sonar officer reported._

Orb!_ Nicol's eyes widened as he turned to the GPS display. The battle had drifted to the edge of their border._

_"Keep an eye on them," he heard Captain Monroe order._

_"Attention ZAFT and Earth Alliance vessels. You are currently approaching Aube territory. Alter course at once! In defense of our neutrality, we strictly prohibit all armed vessels and fighters from entering our waters. Turn back at once!" _

_Yzak scoffed over the open line. "This guy's nuts!"_

_"I repeat, alter your course at once! This is your final warning. Should you fail to heed it, we will exercise our right to defend ourselves and open fire." _

_Nicol frowned as he watched the closing ships. If Orb chose to get involved..._

_"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT WITHOUT DEMANDING OUR PURPOSE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Nicol turned on the radio's visual display. A blond, teenage girl in a red shirt and khaki trousers spoke from the bridge of the legged ship. "Now the Archangel's going to cross into Aube territory. I demand you provide cover until we reach a safe location to allow refugees to disembark. After that, should you chose to sink us, I'll die without any regrets." _

_"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?" a black haired officer on the legged ship's bridge demanded. _

_Nicol could hear other complaints coming over the line, including a rather strangled, "What about us?" from the kid sitting at the communications station the blonde had co-opted._

_"I don't know who you think you are," the Orb captain protested, "but I--"_

_"If you don't have the authority to make a decision, then call someone who does!" the girl demanded. "Call my superior! Get me Uzumi Nara Attha!"_

_Nicol raised an eyebrow at the name of Orb's recent Chief Representative. _

_"My name is Cagalli Yula!" The Orb captain's eyes widened. "I'm OS, ID number 130267." _

_"I don't know who you think you're kidding!" the Orb captain exclaimed. "There's no way a Specials agent would be aboard that ship!"_

_"Now listen--" _

_"Even if you are who you say, I can't just let you in without evidence!"_

_"BASTARD!" the girl spat. "An off--"_

_An explosion sounded over the transmission as the Buster scored a hit on the ship. "Don't worry," Dearka's voice came over the line as the fighter plane rushed him. "I'll sink them before they get to your territory."_

_"AN OFFICER OF AUBE'S FIRST AND FOREMOST DUTY IS THE PROTECTION OF HER CIVILIANS!" Yula roared as Dearka traded shots with the plane. " When ZAFT initiated their assault on Heliopolis, several of the factory district shelters were disabled or destroyed."_

_"Dearka! You'll hit an Aube ship!" Athrun cut in. "Attack from the other side!"_

_"How do I do that?" Dearka protested._

_"In the confusion, many people found refuge aboard this ship--"_

_"I'm aware of Halberton's message," the Orb captain cut Yula off as the submarine's cameras showed the Strike shoot out the Buster's Guul. "Intelligence has confirmed these facts._

_"And the refugees' demise." _

_"There wasn't time for everyone to transfer to the _Menolas_ before ZAFT attacked the Eighth Fleet--" _

_As he fell, Dearka again combined the Buster's weapons and shot a wide blast of beams at the rear of the ship._

_"A few ar--"_

_Dearka's blasts hit one of the legged ship's nacelles. Yula nearly strangled the Communications Operator with her arm as she struggled against being thrown across the bridge. "A FEW ARE STILL ABOARD THIS SHIP!" she continued as the ship began to fall to the sea. A burly man with long gray hair whispered something to the woman in the captain's chair. Like Yula, he wore no uniform. _

_"DON'T INSULT US!" the Orb captain retorted._

_"YOU HAVE A DUTY TO AT LEAST IMPOUND US UNTIL YOU CAN VERIFY THEIR IDENTITIES!" _

_The legged ship hit the ocean surface and coasted into Orb territory. "As you have ignored our warnings, we have no choice but to defend ourselves!" the Orb captain proclaimed._

_A flurry of missiles drove the Aegis away from the Earth Forces' vessel. Another flurry surrounded the Legged Ship, missing it in a suspiciously precise pattern._

* * *

His leg throbbed. His nose itched. His arm tingled.

And thanks to the last, he just smacked his forehead trying to take care of the nose.

With a sigh, he dragged the numb hand down his face and rubbed his nose against it. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly as he flexed the muscles in his right arm and hand. His flight suit was gone, leaving him in his shorts and undershirt. A blue plastic cast hugged his lower right leg. An IV line had been inserted into his left wrist. The attached bag hung in an alcove to his left.

"You're onboard an Aube vessel." He turned to the right. A familiar blond girl sat across the room. She held a gun pointed directly at him. "We took you prisoner."

"Why?" he asked as his movements woke his arm and hand. "We moved our battle away from your boarders. Or..." A cold weight settled in his gut, and he swallowed hard. "H-Have you officially joined the Earth Forces, Agent Yula?" He smiled with satisfaction as her eyes widened. Hopefully, her surprise would distract her from his nervousness. "I heard your transmission to the Orb fleet."

"Good ear," the Orb operative replied flatly. "What happened to the pilot of the Strike?" she demanded. "Did he eject like you?"

He blinked. _What no name or ID number? _he thought.

"Answer me!" she demanded harshly. "We can't find Kira anywhere!"

Anger rushed through him as he stared at the hypocrite. _At least the rest of the Earth Forces are _honest _about their allegiances. _"I killed him," he told her harshly. "I grabbed the Strike. It grabbed one of its knives and disabled my beam saber. The only weapon I had left was the Blitz itself. It was about to lose power so, I grabbed the Strike's other arm, set the self-destruct, and bailed.

"Then I watched him burn."

"YOU BASTARD!" Yula clenched the gun barrel so tightly her knuckles went white.

_Good thing her finger wasn't on the trigger, _Nicol thought.

"Kira..." Tears welled in the Blonde's eyes. "He could be such an IDIOT! He was whiney and annoying and had NO business in the Earth Forces. But he was kind and decent and only wanted to protect his friends! _HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE!_"

"NEITHER DID ATHRUN!" Nicol yelled. "THAT DIDN'T STOP YOUR KIRA, SO SHUT UP!"

"Wha-What?" Yula stared at him. "What are talking about!?" she demanded.

"Athrun was _my _friend, so I don't want to hear how his killer deser--"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN KIRA KILLED _ATHRUN_!?"

Nicol winced at the piercing volume. "The previous battle where the Strike cut down the Aegis. Athrun was the name of the pilot."

The blonde dashed across the room and slammed the gun barrel against Nicol's jaw.

"LIAR!" Yula grabbed the front of Nicol's teal shirt as stars filled his vision. "Kira'd nev--HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING!?"

"IT HAPPENED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" Nicol roared back. He gulped for breath before continuing. "The Aegis lost Phase Shift, and the Strike was standing there with its sword, and--" Tears began flowing down his face. "I JUST WANTED THE STRIKE TO LEAVE HIM ALONE! I DIDN'T EXPECT--" Nicol choked back a sob. "I signaled Athrun to fall back, but the Strike intercepted--Athrun saw it. The Aegis got between us. I tried to stop my attack--My dart damaged the Aegis' shoulder. But the Strike--"

"Its weapon would have cut through it like warm butter," Yula said flatly.

"No..." Nicol frowned as he thought back. "The sword lodged in the power relays. They overloaded, and triggered the destruct charges." He clenched his hands into fists. "THE BASTARD COULDN'T EVEN LEAVE HIM ALONE IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS! HE WAS TEARING, POUNDING AT THE AEGIS!"

Yula's eyes widened. "Tearing?" she whispered.

Nicol drew a choked breath. "I couldn't save him," he continued meekly. "It was right in front of me, and I--The least I could do was put it right."

"Put it right?" Yula asked coldly. "So now that Kira's dead, do we get _Athrun_ back?"

Nicol glared at her. "At least he can have peace now."

"_PEACE!?_" Yula turned and pounded the wall with both hands. A moment later, she turned back to him. "'You attack because you're attacked'," the blonde stated as if quoting something. "'And someone attacks you in turn.' How is _that _supposed to bring the dead peace? Or..." She stalked to the door. "If you died, would you want the war to escalate and take more of your comrades?"

The blonde left.

_I certainly wouldn't want them killed by the _same_ guy who killed me, _Nicol thought, as he stared at the door._ It's not like we can end the war so easily. But after Spit Break..._

He sighed as he fell back and stared at the ceiling. _Crazy blonde._

* * *

_"FINE!" Asuran and the blond haired girl yelled simultaneously. They turned their backs to each other and stalked off down opposite sides of the sidewalk. Seconds later, a loud shriek filled the air. Asuran spun around to face a muscular man standing right behind him. The man grabbed his arms and pulled him into the edge of the road._

_As Asuran kicked at the man, he saw a brown haired man jump into the back of a van, a glint of gold on his arm. The redhead that had seized Asuran spun him around. Asuran sunk his teeth into the man's arm, but he still dragged the kid towards the open van._

_"HEY!" a voice called. Asuran heard several footsteps racing over. _

_"FORGET IT! WE'RE GOING!" another voice yelled. Asuran found himself thrown onto the ground, spitting blood and torn flesh from his mouth. He looked up and saw a red bookbag sitting on the pavement…_

"SAKURA!" Asuran cried as he sat upright. As his breathing slowed, he found himself in the hospital room from earlier. He looked at his wrists. Still restrained, his left wrist now had a white bandage wrapped around it. The restraint cuff sat further up his arm, just after the bandage. Asuran doubted he could slip the cuff over the bandage, much less his hand.

Anyway, with his head pounding, Asuran doubted he would get far even if he did get loose.

"You pulled against the cuff until it cut into your skin."

Asuran looked up and saw the doctor standing by the curtain that hid the rest of the room. "I remember," he said flatly as he turned his head to the wall. He absently wondered why he had trouble pronouncing the words. "You said I was an enemy."

The room no longer shook violently. A slight vibration did come through the bed. The sensation reminded him of riding a bus. _Or a shuttle..._

"Is there a war going on?" Asuran asked as the doctor's comment on sinking crossed his mind.

"Yes," Zeks replied. "The PLANT colonies are at war with the Earth Alliance--the nations that sponsored the PLANTs."

Asuran frowned. "What does Aube have... Wait. Someone from PLANT wanted to adopt me." And change his name, but the man had not wanted Kira. Asuran sat up. "You said you had my brother too. Can I see him?" When his head cleared, Asuran tried to peer around the curtain.

"Asuran," the doctor sat on the chair next to the bed. "Kira wasn't a prisoner. He was aboard this ship as a volunteer for the Earth Forces."

"I _am_ PLANT, right?" Asuran asked. "He _wouldn't_..."

"You did join ZAFT," Zeks told him. "But the war disrupted personal correspondence. Kira didn't initially know--and he got swept up in events outside his control."

"Oh," Asuran replied, feeling disconnected from whatever he should feel. "Doesn't he want to see me?" he asked quietly.

"He'd like it very much--If he's still alive." Asuran gasped. "I'm afraid we lost contact with the Strike during the last sortie."

"Strike?" Asuran asked numbly.

"His fighter."

"Oh."

"We contacted Orb, and requested they search the battle area for him."

"You're not looking?" Asuran asked, still numb.

"The battle was too intense. If we stayed, we wouldn't have lived long enough to search. But since we withdrew, it likely drew away the ZAFT forces away from him."

"Oh, " Asuran replied. Then after a moment: "Is that... good?"

"That depends on if Kira survived, his condition, and how your unit treats POWs," Zeks replied. "We'll know soon enough. Orb won't turn down a request to save lives."

"Especially Ari's twi--."

_A blonde face flashed through Asuran's mind. He saw himself wearing red as he sat and watched her yell over a monitor. Asuran could not hear her words, but he had an impression of ships on water. And behind the girl..._

Zeks clamped a hand on Asuran's shoulder. "That's not a factor," the doctor said firmly. "Don't go saying it is."

Asuran barely registered the doctor's words as he tried to puzzle out the memory.

* * *

He would almost welcome the crazy blonde's company. Nicol rubbed the bruise on his jaw. Almost.

After Yula had stalked out of the room, Nicol decided to hobble his way over to the desk and computer station. Even putting his weight into the wall, the trip had tortured his cast-bound leg. All for a terminal that would not power on.

_It's unlikely I could have hacked their communications, anyway, _he had thought gloomily.

Unwilling to aggravate his broken limb further then he had to, Nicol continued to sit at the terminal and stare at the bed. Time passed slowly, and he had long since exceeded his boredom threshold. Nicol had even resorted to counting the specs on the floor.

Nicol looked up sharply as the door slid open. The Orb agent walked in with a tall, stern-looking man in the uniform of an Orb colonel. Nicol recognized the gray haired man as the one from the legged ship's bridge. The colonel held a pair of crutches in one hand. Nicol's flight helmet was in the other. A jacket and pair of red jeans lay draped over an arm. "Your ride's here," Yula told him.

"Ride?" Nicol asked.

"We're not allowed to bring foreign soldiers into Aube territory--"

Nicol snorted at Yula's words. He knew that Orb had admitted the legged ship.

"--So we're handing you over to a ZAFT transport."

Nicol nodded. "Where's my flight suit?"

"We had to cut it off your leg," the colonel spoke as he walked over. "The swelling was too intense. We'll return the remains if you want, but you'll have to make do with this for the transfer."

Nicol nodded. "Thanks."

After he changed, they escorted him to the ship's door. They passed several people, most in Orb's naval uniform, but a few wore the white pants and orange jacket of Morgenroete.

Nicol frowned at that. _The must have hoped to salvage the Blitz and Strike, _he thought.

"It's the next left, then we'll be there," the colonel informed him brusquely. Nicol nodded. As they turned, another Morgenroete engineer passed them, though he wore a white skirt and looked just a few years older than Nicol. Ahead of him, Nicol could see the hatch opening--

_Wait. _He_?_

Nicol stopped and looked over his shoulder. The engineer had passed out of sight.

"Keep moving," Yula ordered.

"Was that..." Nicol caught the look on Yula's face and decided not to press the issue. _It was probably just a poor-built girl, anyway, _he decided as he reached the door.

Nicol put the random event out of mind, and leaned his weight onto the crutches. He watched a small motorboat make its way from the ZAFT transport. Two figures in elite red stood on either side of the transport's door. "BASTARD!" the shorter one bellowed into a bullhorn. "WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU TO GET BLOWN UP!?"

"That's quite a show of affection," Yula remarked dryly as Nicol groaned and closed his eyes.

_That's Yzak for you, _he thought. A light touch on his chest caused him to pull back as he opened his eyes. He instinctively put more weight on his left leg then it liked, over corrected, and fell into the blond agent's arms.

"I'm sorry," she said as a flushing Nicol rebalanced himself. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"What were you...?" Nicol trailed off as he glanced down and spotted a red, teardrop-shaped stone hanging from a cord around his neck.

"It's an amulet of Haumea. Let it protect you."

Nicol blinked at her. "Why?"

"Do you want to die or something?" Yula snapped.

"No! But I killed Kira. Why--"

"KILLING YOU WON'T BRING KIRA BACK!" Yula snarled.

"I know that! But… Why would you want protect me?"

Yula sighed. "I just don't want to see anyone else die. Besides, you said Aslan died to save you."

"Athrun," Nicol corrected.

"Whatever! The point is, you owe it to him to try to stay alive! So don't go inviting grudges!" Yula walked behind him and placed her hands on his back. "Now let's get you down to that boat."

* * *

"Sai?"

The young man in the blue Earth Forces uniform looked up from his supper tray. He smiled at the pink uniformed speaker as she sat across from him. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Depends on when you ask," the redhead replied. "Any word from Orb?"

"Not yet." Behind tan lenses, blue eyes looked down at his food. "At least we're out of ZAFT's range. It should be smooth sailing to Alaska."

"And the little brother?"

Sai sighed. "Zeks says he's out of danger, but that his memory loss and Japanese accent is troubling."

"Why?" a black haired, brown-eyed teen asked as he set his lunch on the table. "He was originally from Aube, and about half the original settlers were from Japan."

"Hey, Kuzzey," Sai greeted. "Zeks is adamant that it's a Japanese accent, not Gatonic. And 'too damn strong', for that matter."

"It's the head injury," the gray-eyed girl told her two companions.

"Yeah," Kuzzey answered, his brow furrowed in confusion. "He thinks he's still a kid."

"No," the redhead shook her head. "It's separate from the amnesia. In… _that _place, there was this kid Michael--about as Hispanic as sushi--who took a head blow. When he woke up, he had all his memories and faculties, but talked with a Spanish accent--to most of us. There was some disagreement from the Spanish speakers--Anyway, he spoke normally by the end of the month, though the doctors said it could have been permanent."

"Oh," Sai replied. "Well, Athrun's started recovering strength and memories, so I guess that's a good sign."

"I hope so." Gray eyes stared at the table. "But Alaska--I know we've discussed it, but--"

"Flay." The brown haired boy reached across the table and squeezed her wrist. "If something unexpected happens," he spoke in a quieter voice, "we'll deal with it. It'll be fine."

"Yeah," Kuzzey echoed, looking nervously at the rest of the room.

"If Kira's--He'd want us--"

"Kira _wants _us to look after ourselves as well as his brother," Sai told Flay. "Excessive worrying won't do you any good."

"I know, but--Miri." Flay pulled her arm away from Sai as another young woman entered the cafeteria. With short, auburn hair, she wore the same pink uniform as Flay and looked as if someone had punched her gut. She walked over to their table.

"What's up?" Sai asked.

"We heard from Orb."

* * *

Sunlight poured through the room's wide windows. The woman ignored it as she sat at the black grand piano with her head bowed forward. Her forest green hair brushed the piano's keys. She lightly played the keys as she dreaded the next phone call.

Her mobile phone sat on the bench next to her, and had rung a few times over the last hour. As all the ringtones belonged to friends or associates, she had ignored them. Only one call meant anything: the one that would either answer her hopes or destroy her.

"Romia?"

The woman spun to the room's door. "Yuri! What ar--" She paled abruptly. "It's bad news."

Ever since Yuri told her that Nicol had gone MIA, she had known the odds favored his death. She had tried not to place too much hope in the fact that his team had been forced to withdraw without a proper search of the area.

"No!" Yuri exclaimed. "Orb found him, and turned him over. He's probably at the Carpentaria hospital all ready."

Relief and worry warred within her as she crossed the room. _Nicol's alive. Nicol's hurt. _"Hospital?" Romia demanded. "What happened?"

"It sounds like he just got a little scrapped up. He's going to be fine."

"Did you get a copy of the medical reports? And why the hell didn't you call me the minute you heard?"

The brown haired man winced. "Rosie called and said you were holed up, ignoring all calls."

Romia briefly considered killing their housekeeper. "Only because the ringtones weren't yours or a ZAFT exchange. I needed time to process things without dealing with everyone's sympathy." She frowned and brushed her hand across her husband's cheek. "Oh Yuri, I'm so sorry."

Yuri smiled. "Me too." Romia smiled weakly, thinking back to that argument…

_"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Romia shrieked. She swung her hand forward, and raked her nails down Yuri's cheek. "'He'll be fourteen,'" she mimicked. "'He won't do as well as the older volunteers. I can get him assigned away from the frontlines.'"_

_"'Keep him safe?'" Yuri threw right back. "'He can get nuked in his own bed!' How ca…" _

Yuri embraced her, drawing her back to the present. "With luck, Spit Break will settle things enough that he doesn't have to go out there again," he whispered as he held Romia.

* * *

"Torii!" _Flap-flap. _"Torii!" _Flap-flap._

Asuran smiled sadly as he watched the mechanical bird hopping back and forth between his knees. If not for the robotic pet, Asuran reckoned, he would have gone nuts two days ago. Whether from boredom or frustration as he tried to make sense of the jumble of memories in his head, he could not say. As he healed, he had recovered disjointed slices of his life in the PLANTs. Some, like his wartime confrontations with Kira, were intensely vivid. Others felt like watching the life of a stranger called "Athrun".

And for all that he remembered accepting the spelling change--the two versions _were _pronounced the same in Gato, after all--that change now bothered him. While the English pronunciation of Athrun came closer to his familiar name, it now felt like his father had ripped his identity away.

"Torii!" The bird landed on the back of his hand and peered up at him. Asuran smiled down at the bird.

"And how's my patient this fine morning?"

Asuran scowled. He hated this ship's doctor.

"Any pain, discomfort, new memories?" the cheerful voice continued.

Asuran settled for throwing a dark look at the man, before silently turning back to Torii.

"Look," Zeks sighed. "I know you don't want to deal with me, but it's easier to treat you if I know what's going on with you. So I need you--"

"Yes," Asuran cut the man off as he kept his gaze on Torii.

"Pardon me?" the doctor queried.

"I am experiencing discomfort," Asuran replied clinically as Torii landed on his palm. "My wrists feel constricted and restrained. Can you do something about that?"

Zeks threw back his head and laughed. "Cute, kid." He reached out and _patted _Asuran on the head. "Very cute," he added, apparently unaware of Asuran's glower. Zeks removed his hand from Asuran's head and turned to grab the chair. "But seriously," he said, as he sat down. "You're sleeping less and eating more. Those are good signs."

"Lot of good that does me tied up," Asuran replied bitterly.

"It won't last forever, kid."

Asuran stared at his lap. True, he hated being chained down, but he found getting locked in a cage just as unpleasant. The odds of escape from the ship's brig were lower--not that his current chances ranked high, or even likely. But a thin strip of plastic gave the illusion of flimsiness that no metal bar could.

He would not mind the freedom to stand and walk that a cell offered, though.

"What's going to happen me?" he asked.

Zeks sighed. "Once we get to Alaska, they'll eventually transfer you to a POW site. After that, it depends on when the wars ends."

The Earth doctor spoke as calmly and clinically as ever, but Asuran could not shake his unease. "Really," he replied. "That's all?"

"Would you prefer something more medieval?" the doctor drawled. "Perhaps a nice rack and thumbscrew ensemble?"

Asuran's jaw dropped. _He jokes about _that_? _He abruptly closed his mouth, then opened it again to tell the doctor off--

"Sorry to disappoint, but there are rules governing the treatment of prisoners."

"There are rules against nuking my mom, too!" Asuran snapped. "Don't go preaching about _your _rules! When you clearly don't even--"

The doctor slammed his fist onto the top of his desk. "You don't know me," he hissed. "So don't presume to tell me _my _feelings! Further, there are rules against ZAFT targeting civilians as well! Don't lump me in with the scum of the Earth Forces, unless you'd like me to return the favor." The door behind the doctor slid open. A redhead walked in with the day's lunch trays. Zeks sighed. "Look, I won't say there are never any problems, but you don't need to worry. There are people who'll look out for you."

Asuran snorted. "Maybe if Kira were still alive. But that fool got what was coming, so--"

The trays crashed the floor, and their contents jumped out--Asuran's pre-cut beef and peas, as well the doctor's slab of meat and two forks. "Flay!" the doctor turned to stop the girl as she rushed towards Asuran.

The girl threw back an arm and gut-punched him into the wall. Asuran's green eyes widened as he realized she held the doctor's steak knife in her other hand. He threw his hands up as she reached his bed. With a cry, Torii lifted off. The robot pet bounced off Flay's descending hand. The restraints would not allow Asuran's arms to fully extend, but he managed to catch her wrists before the knife skewered his brain.

Flay threw herself onto the bed. As she straddled Asuran's waist, he realized that the knife slowly descended despite his efforts. _I thought I'd regained most of my strength... _"Aah!" he grunted, as the girl's knees dug into his waist like a vise. She pulled her arms away from Asuran. Not expecting the sudden reversal, he failed to keep her wrists in his grasp. Flay's left arm batted Asuran's arms to the side. The knife's blade cut Asuran's cheek, ear, and hair as it sank in the pillow.

"WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Flay shrieked.

_"ME!?" _Asuran spluttered. "WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH _YOU_?"

"KIRA!" As tears welled in her gray eyes, Flay pulled the knife up, and stabbed it down again. Asuran grabbed her arm. The knife slowed, but still lodged into the pillow. "He's so--So--HOW COULD YOU SAY HE DESERVED TO DIE!"

"HE BETRAYED HIS OW--"

The knife cut through his cheek again, crossing the first cut. "HE NEVER SET FOOT IN THE PLANTS, MORON! HE WASN'T--"

"HE'S A COORDINATOR!" Asuran retorted. "HE HAS NO BUS--"

"_YOU _CHANGED THAT!" The crimson-haired girl drew the knife back again. The doctor's hand grabbed Flay's wrist.

"Flay!" he commanded. "Get ahol--"

Flay elbowed the doctor in the nose. "_YOU _ATTACKED!" she continued. "_YOU _KEPT COMING FOR THE KILL, WHEN KIRA ONLY WANTED--"

"FLAY!" Zeks roared, as he continued to struggle for control of the knife. Blood flowed from his nose down over his mouth. "I DON'T THINK--"

"_I _THINK THAT IF I HAD A BROTHER LIKE KIRA, I'D HATE _ANYONE _WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM!"

Fury raced through Asuran. "SO DID I!" he roared, tired of putting up with her self-important assumptions. "THAT'S WHY_ I _HAD TO DO IT!"

Flay blinked. She sat back and let the doctor take the knife. "Huh?"

* * *

Next: Athrun explains himself, Zeks plots, and Nicol gets a surprise.


	3. Chapter 3

Last month, I revised the first two chapters to clarify some things and flow better into this chapter. It shouldn't be necessary to reread them before continuing on, though.

**DISCLAIMER: **I own a set of the manga translations. And some of the Dragonriders of Pern books (which Athrun read in childhood). That does not mean I own the copyrights. This is for fun, not money, with no infringement intended. For me anyway. Athrun might wind up building fire lizards for profit someday, but he's fictional--And living in a time when the copyrights should have long expired, so it would be legal for him anyway.

* * *

"I thought I'd hate whoever killed my brother," Asuran said. He stared at Flay, but his eyes looked dazed. She doubted he even saw her. "But my team doesn't deserv--He was in the wrong! If it were some team I could avoid--But the mission kept coming back, and I couldn't just let Kira kill them--We're supposed to look out for each other." The blue-haired boy's rambling stopped.

_And people accuse _my _logic of being twisted... _"Kira never wanted to fight you," Flay told him quietly. "He just wanted to protect his friends."

"At the cost of mine."

"No!" Flay exclaimed, shocked at the bitterness five words could hold. "He never wanted to fight _any _of you! He just--He was the only one who could."

"Why?" Asuran asked. "He never hated what he was. So why join the Earth Forces? It doesn't make sense."

"Flay," Doctor Zeks returned to the bedside from wherever he had hidden the knife. "Get off my patient so I can evaluate the damage you inflicted. Besides, someone might walk in and think you tried to molest him at knife point."

Flay abruptly realized just _where _on Kira's brother she was sitting--and how far up her skirt had slid. Asuran's face turned as red as her hair. Flay hid her own embarrassment by rolling her eyes as she climbed off the bed. "And you wonder why you never get laid," she told the doctor as she smoothed her skirt down.

"The ladies like me fine."

Flay snorted. "What do you pay th--Torii!" Flay's eyes widened as she caught sight of the small robot lying on Asuran's mattress near the wall. The motionless green bird had a knife mark on its side, and a chip in its wing. She reached for it, only to have Asuran scoop the bird up and hold it to his chest.

"Give him back!" she cried. "Kira entrusted him to me!"

"_I _built him!" Asuran refused. He brought his other hand up and hid Torii from sight.

"You ungrateful, little--"

The door to the infirmary slid open. "What the hell happened in here?"

Flay whirled around to face the ship's second officer. Lieutenant Badgerial's purple eyes stared sternly at the room.

* * *

Nicol sighed as he wrote down a few more notes for _Theme of Loss_. When released from the base hospital, he would run the notes through his laptop's program to test the composition. _It's just not the same as writing in front of my piano, _he thought. He hastily scribbled down a few other variations that sounded good in his head. _I'd love nothing more than to just play around and only write down what I like best..._

He heard the door to the room slide open. _Lunch all ready? _"I'm not that hungry, coul--Dad!" Nicol hastily capped the pen and gathered his sheet music. "What are you doing here?" he blurted. "Your schedule, I mean. I'm glad to see you, but--"

"I know," his father leaned over the bed and hugged him. "It took some creative juggling, but when we heard you were hurt, we had to see you."

"We?"

"Your mother's here too. But she's letting me have you to myself since I have to lift off in a couple hours--I'm sorry, but travel between the PLANTs and Earth takes time."

"I know," Nicol replied, frustrated that his father had read his disappointment. "Mom's really interrogating the medical staff, isn't she?"

"That's a little harsh."

"Dad, when Uncle Harry collapsed, she questioned every aide, nurse, doctor and EMT that had even five seconds of contact with him. And he's just a family friend."

"You're exaggerating. And while it seems intense, she _is _a doctor."

"An OBGYNGS." Though between Blue Cosmos and the war, the demand for genetic surgery was nearly nonexistent. Few second or third generation Coordinators-to-be required additional modification.

"We may fall out of her specialty, but she still knows what she's asking. It's her way of showing she cares."

"It's bloody embarrassing," Nicol muttered.

"Try having her do it when you didn't tell her you injured yourself doing something stupid," his father replied dryly. "Now _that's _embarrassing."

_I don't want to know, _Nicol decided. "How is Uncle Harry?" he asked.

"Good. He was a little quick to agree to cover your mother's half of the practice, but he's good."

"I'm glad."

Losing his lover in the Bloody Valentine had hit Uncle Harry harder then they had thought. He seemed to hang in there at first, but Heliopolis' destruction had stirred things up. Nicol's last meeting with his honorary uncle had felt decidedly strained.

At least the man was taking enough care of himself that he had no incidents like his collapse a few years ago.

"So, you're working on a new piece?" his father asked.

Nicol shrugged. "Just some notes in my head that I want to hear out loud. If they work well enough..."

"I'm sure it'll be wonderful. That new piece you played on your birthday was lovely."

"Thanks," Nicol muttered. _Athrun'll never sleep through my proper concert, _he thought.

"I may not care much for music, but I recognize your talent," his father said.

"I know. I'm just... stuck on what I want to express."

"I see," his father responded. Nicol doubted that. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Yeah." Nicol transferred the stack of papers from the meal tray to the table by the bed. The corner of the stack bumped the edge of Yula's amulet, causing it to roll a little. His father picked up the talisman as Nicol pushed the tray to the side.

"When did you start wearing a necklace?"

"I got it a few days ago," Nicol replied as he took the amulet. "It's..." Nicol bit his lip as he stared at it. "What do you know about my last two battles?"

"I read your reports. Why?"

"Well, when I woke up on the Orb vessel, Agent Yula demanded I tell her what happened to the Strike's pilot--if he had bailed out, because they hadn't found him anywhere. I couldn't say for sure, as I had focused on getting myself away from the explosion. But it seemed they were acting on behalf of the Earth Forces, and I was angry at their false neutrality, so I told her that I'd watched him burn. Yula started ranting about how the pilot--Kira, I think--had no business in the Earth Forces and didn't deserve to die. I told her Athrun didn't deserve to die either. She got a little... odd at that. It's like she didn't want to believe her Kira had actually killed. But as she had been on the Legged Ship, she should have known he had before--I wound up telling her that Athrun died to save me from him. She said something about the dead not finding peace so long as the war continued and stormed out. I didn't see her again until they released me to the transport. She said that this was a protective talisman--It is. They were all over Onogoro City--and that I owed it to Athrun to stay alive.

"The Strike pilot's an enemy," Nicol continued, "and his death helps our side. But I think of Yula, and..."

"You never expected to go face to face with an enemy's friend," his father commented.

"No--Yes, but it's not just that," Nicol replied. "I can't figure out _why _she'd want to give this to me after what I said about her friend, and..." It felt odd confiding in his father about this, but he could never have this conversation with his mother.

And only a fool would voice these thoughts to Commander Le Creuset.

"Killing in battle is one thing, but on the trip back to Carpentaria, I started thinking, what if he _did _eject? Yula seemed to take me at my word, so if he was injured and they quit searching, I could have caused his death--I wouldn't want to have caused his return to the Earth Forces!" Nicol added quickly. "It's just... different from the battlefield, I guess." He sighed and flopped back. "He probably died, anyway," Nicol said as he stared at the ceiling. "I barely cleared the blast, and I _knew _it was coming."

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?" Zeks roared the minute the door closed, sealing the small group in Kira's quarters. He paced through the room, while Sai and Kuzzey stood just inside the door. Miriallia stood on the other side of the room, and Flay sat on Kira's bed, eyes locked on her feet. "ATTACKING _ANY _COORDINATOR, RISKS TOO MANY QUESTIONS! AND _THIS _ONE WE WANT TO COOPERATE!"

Flay did not look up from her feet. "I know," she replied meekly. "I just heard what he said, and didn't think beyond it. Poor guy... his head's really messed up."

"She's one to talk," Kuzzey muttered. Next to him, Sai winced. He understood where his black-haired cousin came from, but Flay had been a childhood friend. He felt so helpless against her pain.

"That may be," Zeks replied. "But the assault--and your confinement--pose problems."

"I'll apologize--"

"_You'll _stay here as Badgerial ordered," Zeks interrupted caustically. "Until we make our move, anyway. The rest of us will worry about fixing the plan."

Zeks sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Is the laptop at least ready?"

Sai nodded and pulled it from his pocket. "The OS will bog down without an interface chip."

"So? That's Asuran's problem. Not mine."

"We're giving the little brother a computer?" Flay asked. "Why?"

"Because Zeks had a brainstorm," Sai replied dryly. "He said he'd explain here."

"Our plan will go far easier if he comes willingly, but he's quite uncooperative. I figured he'll be more likely to believe us, if he finds... a carefully selected piece of the truth out for himself."

"But you had meoverwrite _all_ files related to this ship and our project."

"Of course. It has to pass inspection the minute security or the command staff discover I've given it to him. I had thought that Flay could 'accidentally' mix the right disc in with stuff of Kira's. Obviously," Zeks gave Flay a sour look, "we'll have to substitute someone else."

"I can do it!" Flay protested. "Now that I know where he's coming from, I want to--"

"The last thing we need is for the Earth Alliance Command to look at _you_ too closely!" Zeks cut her off.

"The 'right disk' won't pass inspection, either," Sai pointed out, hoping to prevent a full-out fight between the two.

"Well, obviously we won't let him leave it in plain sight."

Flay snorted. "An 'accidentally' given disk that we hide at the first sign of someone? Yeah, that'll inspire trust."

"We just have time it right," Zeks replied confidently to her sarcasm. "It's like a well-played game of chess. Just follow my lead."

"Oh God, we're doomed," Kuzzey moaned.

As all the teens had seen Zek's chess game, none of them rushed to reassure their timid comrade.

* * *

_Damn, this is depressing, _Flay thought as she watched the video feed from the infirmary. The light from the images illuminated the otherwise dark room. Flay sat on Kira's bed in her skirt and bra. On the monitor, Kira's little brother sat in his bed and stared at the motionless Torii. Flay sighed and began brushing her hair. _At least he's making it easy to loop the security feed... If anyone else is bored enough to watch this._

The infirmary doors slid open, and Zeks walked in. "So how's our patient?" he asked, in a tone too cheerful to be real. The captured teen glared at him. Zeks set the laptop on his desk. He turned to grab his white coat and smirked. It disappeared when he turned back to the little brother.

_I knew it! I_ knew_ he pulled stuff like that on purpose! _As Flay continued to brush her hair, a small square inserted itself in the picture. It showed the delayed feed that security--and anyone else would see.

Zeks pulled out his penlight and shined it into Athrun's eyes. "Are you ready to work through your memories?" he asked.

Flay snorted. As Zeks had pointed out, the kid did _not _trust him.

The little brother pulled away from the light and closed his eyes. "It's been over a week," he complained. "There's no way I still have a concussion."

Zeks shrugged. "I like watching you squirm."

_Oh, _that's _going to help._

As Flay mentally ranted, Zeks retrieved the laptop and dumped it on the captive's lap. "Here. Play solitaire. I'm sick of the damn sighing."

The little brother's face showed an amusing mix of annoyance at doctor's implied insult and confusion at the foolishness of handing a prisoner computer access. Within a second, he forced his face into a neutral expression and unfolded the keyboard. "The interface chip has been removed," he noted sourly after he powered the laptop on.

"Of course it has! It's bloody stupid to give a prisoner access to the ship's systems."

"The OS is slow because it keeps trying to find it."

"Then play something that doesn't time you," the doctor snapped.

"Is your ship really that vulnerable to hacking?"

"Of course not! But I'm not taking the risk. Not with a bored Coordinator. Or a bored Natural, for that matter."

The little brother sighed and turned back to the laptop. After a few minutes, he began rapidly typing. Then he just sat and stared at the monitor. Flay figured he had searched the menu, and then wrote a program to scan for fragments of deleted files. _You won't find anything useful, _she thought at the screen. _Sammy knows what he's doing._

After a few minutes, Zeks looked over the little brother's shoulder. "We do know how to thoroughly overwrite files," he said condescendingly. "You won't find a trace of a fragment."

Athrun scowled, but otherwise ignored the doctor, keeping his focus on the scan. Just as Flay grew bored, the little brother's gaze fell upon the still bird lying next to him. He frowned at it, his eyes narrowed in apparent contemplation. Curious, Flay studied the robot as the camera zoomed in. While the cut on Torii's wing would affect its balance in the air, the knife never penetrated the body, just scored the plastic side. _Either it hit its power switch against the wall, or an internal connection came loose._

The little brother reached out and brushed a hand down Torii's back. Flay focused back on his face. He wore a familiar expression. Sadness mixed with guilt, which warred with determination. Kira had worn a similar expression whenever he launched against the Aegis. Flay wondered if the little brother saw Kira when he looked at the bird. The stillness of the once lively robot did seem an eerie reflection of its owner's current state. _At least Torii can be fixed. _

The little brother turned his head back to the laptop and gave a resolute nod.

Flay's eyes widened. _Son of a Bitch plans to _cannibalize _Torii! _Flay gripped the brush handle until the hollow plastic cracked.

Kira's brother muttered something under his breath that the surveillance mike failed to pick up. Flay leaned forward to read his lips. It seemed to be a promise to Kira to rebuild the bird after his escape.

_Oh right, he can do that. _Flay pulled the sides of her hair back into a barrette and walked across the room. She tucked a small blue case into her waistband before she grabbed her blouse and undershirt.

* * *

Dearka grinned as he aimed at another of the small Eurasian ships. _That's what you get for attacking a ZAFT carrier, _he thought as the side of the vessel blew out and began sinking into the water. After all the difficulty with the Legged Ship, it felt good to revel in the Buster's destructive talents again. He searched for another target.

"What, already?" Yzak's complaining voice came over the radio. These guys wouldn't even have been a challenge in my _sleep_."

"Not all of us can be elite aces in a stolen superweapon," one of the DINN pilots responded dryly. "I'm glad these guys _weren't_ a challenge--I want a piece of Panama."

"Is it just me or is it not a good sign that everybody and their uncle seems to know Spit Break's target?" another asked.

"If it were to be a surprise attack," the first countered, "but with only one mass driver left, even the Naturals could figure out the target."

"And have," a third pilot, this one female, grumbled. "From all the ships that have gathered there. Don't worry Joule, you'll get your challenge, if by nothing else than sheer numbers."

* * *

_"Is it hard?" _

_"Hmm?" Nicol pulled his hand out of his hair and looked up._

_"Writing songs," Athrun specified from the corner of the pilot's lounge as he gestured with a freshly caught chess king._

_"I have no ability to spin words into lyrics," Nicol grumbled. "My compositions are all instrumental." He sighed at the look on Athrun's face. "Some are easier than others. When I have a strong grasp of the emotions I wish to convey, it's easier to determine if the notes I just tried out evoke the right mood--or decide which ones are likely to in the first place. I'm getting better at hearing the tones in my head, but I miss playing them as I think of them." _

_"Ah." Athrun now floated upside-down in the weightless room, an arm stuck underneath the sofa bolted to the lounge's floor. "Sounds frustrating. But I bet it's fun to beat the challenge."_

_"Usually, I find it relaxing, even if none of the combinations sound quite right. If I _do _get frustrated, it's usually because I was too stressed anyway."_

_"Is--Damn! Where _is_ that last Rook?" Athrun pulled his empty hand out from underneath the sofa._

_"Why do you keep playing Yzak?" Nicol asked. _

_"He's the toughest challenge." Athrun's hand clenched around the king as he floated over the floor. "I _will _get him next time!" he vowed. _

_"But--Wait. _You _lost?" The sour look Athrun shot him provided all the answer Nicol needed. "I heard Yzak cursing and throwing the pieces. He always does that when you win." _

_"He's no happier when he wins," Athrun grumbled. "Last time, he got upset that I congratulated him before he could say checkmate. This time he didn't like the way I said it. Asked if I thought I was better than him."_

But if Athrun lo--Oh. _"You know, you _are _a better loser than Yzak. And he hates when you beat him at _anything_."_

_"Of course," Athrun murmured, a smirk on his face. "Who likes losing?" Suddenly, the smile vanished and Athrun bit his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe he thinks I'm giving him pity wins," he said sounding a little too innocent. "That'd piss me off. Perhaps I should try to sound more subdued..."_

"Athrun..." Nicol closed his eyes as empty space passed by the shuttle window.

* * *

Romia watched her son as he sat quietly in his seat, leg stretched out in front of him. She liked to flatter herself that she was closer to Nicol than Yuri was, but Nicol gave no sign of confiding the thoughts that kept him so preoccupied.

Unlike whatever he said to Yuri that put her husband in that mood before his lift off...

_"The war's changing on him," Yuri grumbled darkly. "We knew it would, but I don't have to like it." _

* * *

_This ship_, Asuran decided, _is one giant, floating madhouse. _

First they had a guard on him when his memory loss had him thinking he was ten and his physical injuries left him about as strong. Then they removed said guard as he began to recover, and some violent bitch attacked him. She nearly amputated half of his ear. _Then_ they failed to properly lock in said bitch for the punishment she claimed she had received. _And _the guards that the amethyst-eyed lieutenant had ordered back to the infirmary's door had no problem letting his redheaded attacker walk in to see him--with sharp, pointy objects in hand.

What followed justified his stupid childhood fear of haircuts.

Flay's shears looked more than capable of snipping off half an ear or two--or gouging out an eye. When Asuran initially tried to decline her offer to 'fix the damage', she had waved and gestured with them in a manor that defied any sense of personal safety. At the same time, she advanced across the room while she ranted.

Asuran had to admit that Flay knew what she was doing. While she had to climb on the bed and around him, she cut each lock with a sure and steady hand. Except for the section she had hacked with the knife, Flay took off consistent amounts. She gave his bangs only a minimal trim, though. Flay also maneuvered so that her shears stayed out of his hands' limited reach with an ease he had never seen in a mere ship's barber. The casual strength displayed when she used a knee to further restrict an arm, reminded Asuran of what _else _she could do with those shears.

As her nonstop chatter reminded him that she could attack without warning.

She started talking about Kira's kind heart and somehow segued into his skill in bed. ('Not the greatest, but far, _far_ from bad', which Asuran did _not _need to hear about his brother. _Ever_.) Then she moved into her grudge against the _Vesalius_ for sinking her father's ship. After she responded to Asuran's query with 'Of course! I'm not a fool!', she continued talking as if the _Vesalius_ were a person instead of a ship:

"...Really, its not like hesold _Vesalius _to Blue Cosmos," Flay continued as she combed up another lock of hair to snip, "so why should _Vesalius_ get his death?"

And her rage over the man's death was not grief-fueled.

"Daddy wasn't _that _important to the efforts against ZAFT--"

"Wait," Asuran interrupted as her previous statement registered. "Blue Cosmos?"

"_Uhm-hum. _When I was six," Flay combed through his hair. "He made some deal for financial support of his political career and chose not to pay attention to the 'boarding school' he sent me to--Or what favors might be asked later. Next thing I know, I'm dragged off to some godforsaken lab run by lunatics." Flay climbed off the bed and walked to her kit. "I escaped last year." Flay whirled around and smiled as she held a pink-framed mirror in front of her. "So, what do you think?"

Asuran blinked at the question. "Huh?"

"The haircut!" Flay snapped, as she waved the mirror. "Do you like it?"

"Oh." Asuran blushed as he studied his reflection. His navy bangs looked the same as he last remembered--parted near the middle where he had a natural cowlick and falling just above his eyes--but more than an inch had come off the sides. His hair now stopped mid-earlobe, though it tapered to be a little longer behind his ears.

"I had to layer it to compensate for the damage." Flay sounded nervous. "But I gave it my best--"

"It's okay."

"_Okay!?_"

"Good actually," Asuran added hastily to placate her. "I just need to get used to the change."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CREWMAN ALLSTER IS GIVING HIM A HAIRCUT!?" The black haired lieutenant from the other day stormed into the room. Her amethyst eyes quickly ran over Asuran's form. As soon as she ascertained that Flay had not harmed him, she seized the arm of the girl in question. "How did you get out of your quarters?" she demanded.

"I just wanted to apologize for my rudeness yesterday."

"_Assaulting_ a prisoner is a serious offense!" One of the guards by the still open door exclaimed in surprise at the lieutenant's statement. "Now who let you out?"

Flay looked insulted. "I'm capable of getting through a lock on my own!" she snapped as she pulled her arm free.

The lieutenant glowered as she grabbed Flay's shoulders and spun her around. "Escort her to the brig!" she snapped to one of the guards. "Then report back here." As the door shut behind Flay and the guards, the lieutenant pressed the intercom button on the wall by the door. "Dr. Zeks to the infirmary. _NOW!_"

While her back was still turned, Asuran noticed that one of the clips Flay had used to separate sections of his hair had fallen on the bed. He moved a hand over it, thoughtfully running a thumb over its metal tip. A second later, he slipped it into his pocket.

* * *

Asuran sat cross-legged on a bunk in the ship's brig. He faced down the length of the bed, into the empty cell across the hall. Torii laid on the mattress in front of him. Asuran ran a finger along the still bird's back. "The only piece of Kira I have," he murmured, repeating the words he had blurted when Badgerial demanded he hand the bird over.

The words had caught him by surprise. However as he reflected on them, he realized that as well as a distraction against boredom, the bird had provided comfort as the loss of his brother sank in. It made him regret that he had never built any pets for his ZAFT comrades. But with the possibility of death at any time, he had found the thought of ownerless robots depressing.

_It's not like I have anything better to do than decide which robots I should have built._

He could easily picture Nicol with a pair of dragon-cousins from those books he read as child. As the little lizards were singers, he would alter birdsong to sound more reptilian. Once he finished the 'voice', Asuran would give them the ability to learn melody and harmony for the songs Nicol liked. Maybe he could even give them a mode where they could read and synthesize piano music.

The white haired Duel pilot--whose name he _still _could not remember--proved more of a challenge. Asuran had decided to use the guy's love of exotic cats and build a tiger or leopard cub. But he had gotten stuck on the desire to use the Duel's color scheme and pattern instead of stripes or spots. A move he doubted his comrade-in-arms would appreciate, as his creations tended to be cute--whether he wanted them to or not. While What's-his-name might or might not have a high tolerance for cute things, Asuran reckoned said tolerance would plummet when it came to his mobile suit.

Certainty Asuran did not want his... red suit's features deformed into a plush doll to or morphed fit on some bunny's head.

As Asuran shuddered at the thought, he reflected on one of the memories he had recovered: The white-haired youth had snapped at Asuran over a horseback riding competition, and Asuran had felt exasperation and a desire to get back at the guy. Asuran frowned and bit his lip. He also remembered silently vowing to win a subsequent chess match while pretending that he did not care that the Duel pilot had just achieved checkmate. The resulting explosion had proved satisfying.

_Okay, so I'm stuck on the Pet Duel theme because I _want_ to push his buttons. But I want him to _keep _the pet..._

Asuran turned and slumped against the wall as he stared at the ceiling. Perhaps he could go with an adult house cat. They could act quite dignified, which might overwhelm any inherent cuteness enough to appeal to the guy's ego. Asuran smiled. The thing would, of course, act up randomly.

Rusty was crazy about fox terriers, so his pet was a given. Miguel--

_Automatic gunfire filled the warehouse dock. Athrun and the rest of the raiding team slowly advanced into the dock with the last two mobile suits. On top of a suit an Earth Forces soldier returned their fire. The bullets cut down the red suited soldier to Athrun's right. "RUSTY!" Athrun cried as he continued firing at the enemy soldier. He hit the woman's shoulder, causing her to drop her weapon--_

Asuran stared into empty air with wide eyes. "Rusty... Dead..."

A shadow fell in front of him. Asuran blinked and focused on the source. A sandy-haired crewman with glasses stood holding a meal tray. "Here," he handed the tray through the slot.

Asuran shoved his new memory away as he went to take the meal: canned beans, rehydrated fake potatoes and something that tried to pass itself off meat. "Thanks," he said flatly.

The crewman nodded and pulled the laptop from a pocket. "Zeks asked me to bring you this."

"I thought the Lieutenant confiscated it."

The crewman shrugged. "After it checked out okay, Zeks changed her mind."

Asuran frowned as he studied the crewman in front of him. The enemy soldier looked around his age. His glasses had a light orange tint that made his blue eyes look brown. "Why would your doctor go to so much trouble?" Asuran asked.

"He loves to argue. Especially with Lieutenant Badgerial. And… partly for your brother's sake." The crewman wore an uncertain look. "I think. Look, you don't have to take this. But it's got to be a better way to pass the time than shredding your mattress with your teeth."

Asuran stared at the other teen.

"Trust me, it's happened," he replied dryly. "Granted, Smith was a head case experiencing withdrawal. Nothing we'd have allowed in with him would have kept him sufficiently distracted, but if you'd rather sit and stare…" The crewman turned to leave.

"Wait!" Asuran quickly placed the meal tray on his bunk so he could take the laptop. "If you're trying to keep me distracted, I--" Asuran took deep breath as he nervously tapped the laptop against his leg. "Could I have a few small tools? Nothing that could do anything to the door! It's just that I built Torii--that bird there--and I'd like to check him out, see if anything got jarred loose."

The crewman's eyes narrowed as he looked from Torii to the laptop. "Try the power switch," he replied coldly. "Because even if you get Torii's interface chip to work in the laptop, the brig's shielded against computer signals." The soldier walked out.

Asuran scowled as he sat on the floor between the front of his bunk and the cell's bars. "Like I could do anything if Torii doesn't power on," he muttered as he slumped against the wall. After glaring at the opposite wall a few minutes, he sighed and grabbed his meal tray off the bunk. As he started eating, he frowned. _How'd he know I didn't try the switch? _

After few minutes, Flay called from the opposite end of the brig. "Oi, Little Brother!"

"What?" Asuran snapped. The girl had been silent since the guards had escorted him past her cell. He preferred the silence over his previous encounters.

"They put you in the far cell to the right, right?"

Asuran tilted his head to the right. "Why?" he asked as he looked down the row of cells. The cells' walls jutted out beyond the doors, so the only cell he could only see into was the one across from him. However, he did see her pink arm waving something blue near the floor at the far end of the hall.

"Just answer before Spencer comes back from his potty break!" Flay hissed.

_'Potty break'? _Asuran blinked at her phrase. _Wait. The guard _left_!?_ "Right," he answered curtly. _What is up with this ship?_

"Good. Then get to the door and catch."

"Catch what?"

"JUST STICK OUT YOUR ARM!"

"Fine!" Asuran hissed. As soon as he did so, Flay slid the blue object along the floor. Asuran barely caught the soft case before it slid past him. He pulled the case in and unzipped it. Inside he found a set of small tools. "How?"

"They didn't check me before locking me up. You can do whatever you want first, but if you don't fix Torii in the end, I'll hurt you. Got it?"

"Got it," Asuran replied as he slipped the tools under his pillow. _It's hard to believe a ship that's been so hard to sink could have so many internal security issues, _he thought. _Better watch my back._

"Good." Flay responded. Asuran resumed his meal. After a few minutes, Flay spoke again. "Little Brother?"

Asuran sighed. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to see some of Kira's computer files? I can get someone to bring them." Asuran frowned down the hall. "I'm not asking for anything, just--It might help with any questions you have."

"Sure." Asuran's eyes narrowed as he stared toward her voice. _Oh yeah, someone's laying a trap._ _If I'm careful, I may be able to use this to my advantage, though._ He scooped up a bite of potatoes--

_"SHUT UP YOU COWARD!" the voice roared through the Aegis' cockpit--_

Asuran frowned. _Another_ memory of the silver-haired pilot and still he could not drag even a hint of the guy's name from his brain. Since the guy was an ass in so many memories, it was tempting to say White-hair did it deliberately--

_Kira stood on the other side of the fence, Torii cupped in his hands. Yet they stood kilometers apart. Athrun wanted to ask why Kira was doing this, beg him to stop..._

_Leap the fence and break his hands so that he could not pilot the Strike._

_Behind him, his teammates climbed into an automated cab. "COME ON!" Duel's pilot yelled-- _

"Screw it!" Asuran growled, dropping his fork onto his tray. _Pet Duel's going to be a dainty, mewling--no 'dewling'--annoying little kitten with cutesy little wings…_

* * *

"It will have to be reported as well," Lieutenant Badgerial stated. The black haired woman stood in front of the captain's desk.

Captain Murrue Ramius sighed as she stared at the surface of the desk. She could feel a headache coming on. "I know. I've all ready put official reprimands in Bean and Meyer's files." First thing she did after she woke up from her off shift was check the ship's logs. As they had less than twenty-four hours before they docked at the JOSH-A base, she had expected relatively mundane reports. Instead, the security log had anotherincident. One which clearly indicated that at least two crewmen had failed to check the log as regularly as they should.

And, of course, her second-in-command had to have her say as soon she got the chance.

"We should not have left him in sickbay after the knife attack--Should have moved him before the attack."

"I _know_, Natarle."

"I'm not unsympathetic to the doctor's position, but amnesia and Foreign Accent Syndrome aren't life-threatening."

"No, just symptomatic of brain injury, which sometimes _is_," Murrue replied dryly. She held up a hand before the younger woman could speak. "I agree that he's obviously out of danger, though I believe Zeks is more concerned with giving a prognosis than afraid the boy will keel over in his cell."

"Keeping Zala in the infirmary won't suddenly give the doctor a _working_ scanner," Natarle countered. "And whether or not the damage is permanent, he clearly remembers _something_ of this war and his training. That makes him a security threat, and he should be treated as such, not coddled like a civilian refugee--no matter how bad we feel about his brother."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Murrue asked sharply. "Risking our safety to sublimate feelings of guilt?"

"We did lay into Ensign Yamato when he brought his brother onboard," Badgerial responded. "Then he went MIA before the prisoner was out of danger. While I stand by what I said--withholding his connection to the Aegis' pilot _was_ foolhardy at best--Yamato still did a lot for us. It's natural for us... to regret how things ended."

"Us?" Murrue asked. As she remembered it, her second in command had come down on Kira the hardest.

"All of us," Natarle replied. "And it's making us go easy on the Zala kid. We're clearly unprepared for dealing with prisoners in the first place, but Yamato's brother is something we never conceived of."

"I know," Murrue replied. "But such things aren't unheard of in a civil war."

Natarle's face darkened. "Perhaps, but Yamato was a citizen of a neutral party." The tough lieutenant bit her lip. "It's no secret he only enlisted to protect his friends who did--especially Ms. Allster. But the way he reacted to Zala was rather protective as well. As cold as it sounds, he may be better off MIA. There are individuals at Alaska that will likely suspect him of espionage."

"Is that your take on things?" Murrue asked. To her surprise, Natarle shook her head. The woman disagreed with her on nearly everything.

The normally composed lieutenant sighed as she finally sat in the chair across from Murrue. "I think it's as he said: he never expected it to end the way it did. If we had made our intended descent to Alaska, the odds were they'd have been assigned to different fronts."

"I agree," Murrue said, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on her hands. "However, I got the same impression for the subsequent battles with the Aegis. I think he just didn't want to believe he might kill Zala."

"I suppose that's human nature," Natarle replied. "However, it looks bad. And it's not the only problem this revealed."

Murrue frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The Heliopolis volunteers _were_ thrown straight into battle out of necessity. They, especially Kira's circle of friends, have learned their regular duties so well it's easy to forget they've never had the benefit of formal training. But there are basic rules and regulations that they're unaware of--Crewman Argyle was caught off guard when I asked him to pack up Koenig and Yamato's effects, for example. Yet because they have been competent at their posts, the rest of the crew seem to think they're qualified for everything. Aside from their laxness in keeping up with the log entries relevant to their duties, Bean and Meyer should have realized that Ms. Allster was not trained in safely giving prisoners haircuts--which they should not have allowed unattended, anyway. Also, when I went by the brig to check on things, I discovered that Spencer had left Crewman Argyle in his post so he could take an unscheduled break."

"Oh, great," Murrue groaned. "What did Argyle do?"

"Actually, he seems to have a better head for monitoring prisoners than some of our security staff," Natarle replied dryly. "He sounded almost experienced. But the fact remains that that group's only half-trained. It's one thing when they're just temporary volunteers until we offload refugees, but they're soldiers now and we have no idea what they really know. Once they officially enlisted and we failed to make Alaska, they should have received tutoring and testing in basic procedures, hand-to-hand, and firearms use and maintenance. This will need to be reported as well."

_I don't remember this occurring to you at the time, either,_ Murrue thought furiously. "Very well," she said. "Go ahead and add it to your report." _As if you wouldn't anyway._

Natarle blinked and pulled back in her chair. "Captain, please understand, I'm not doing this for personal reasons. But it's important to maintain order. And while some allowances can be made for emergency situations, regulations must be restored as soon as possible."

"I'm well aware of that," Murrue replied. "However, in the field, commanders are always allowed some leeway. And while hindsight shows room for improvement, I stand by what I've done. Now it's up to Alaska to decide if they will as well."

Natarle frowned and looked down. "Captain..."

Murrue sighed. "I'm well aware of how things may turn out. And that I'm not the most suited for this position. However, I've no doubt you'll make an excellent captain someday."

* * *

Natarle Badgerial sighed as the door closed behind her. Once again, the captain was too damn lenient, even with her. _It's not like the captain never made some good decisions_, she grumbled. Even some Natarle had disagreed with at the time proved sound. But the woman seemed acted as if Natarle had a vendetta. Did she not understand the value of a Devil's Advocate in making proper command decisions? And then there was her low opinion of some basic regulations...

Natarle turned and walked briskly to her quarters. As it was, she had recorded the major issues, and final judgment rested with those more experienced than her.

* * *

Patrick Zala smiled with satisfaction as he skimmed through the report Amalfi handed him. "The new suits are coming along nicely," he commented as he looked up from readout of the XGMF-X11B Virtue. Next to the monitor sat a framed photo of Lenore and their son, taken shortly after they brought Athrun to the PLANTs. To the upper left corner, Patrick had taped Athrun's Shooting Star, a medal that ZAFT awarded him posthumously.

"Yes," Amalfi agreed. "I noticed you assigned a pilot to the Freedom."

"Yes, just this afternoon." Patrick smiled. "Did you want to be the one to give Nicol the good news?" A grimace flashed across Amalfi's face. "Is there a problem?"

Amalfi sighed. "No. He's more than qualified. I just have mixed feelings about Nicol fighting, especially after nearly losing him."

Patrick slammed a fist onto his desk, toppling his photo of Lenore and Athrun. It fell onto its back. "HAD HE DIED, HE WOULD HAVE DIED A HERO!" Patrick spat. "WE CAN'T ASK THE PEOPLE TO RISK THEIR SONS WHILE SHIELDING OUR OWN!"

"I WASN'T SUGGESTING I WOULD!" Amalfi snapped back. "I WAS_ NEVER _MORE PROUD OF MY SON THAN WHEN VOLUNTEERED TO DEFEND THE PLANTS! BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE TO _LIKE _THE THOUGHT OF HIM DYING!"

Patrick froze with fury as he stared up at Amalfi. "Get. Out."

Amalfi blinked. His eyes flickered to Athrun's medal. "I didn't mean--"

Patrick slumped back into his chair. He suddenly felt old and exhausted. "Just leave," he said quietly. "I know," Patrick added as Amalfi looked ready to say something. He righted the picture and ran his fingers over Athrun's face. "I know. I just wish I'd... We'll finish this up this afternoon," he said brusquely as pulled up an economic report.

Amalfi stood and studied him for a moment. Patrick thought would push the issue, but he just nodded. "Very well." He turned and left.

Patrick sighed and rubbed his forehead. Things should not have ended like this. Athrun was part of Hibiki's project; _nothing _should have touched him. "It's that damned Kira," Patrick growled under his breath. No matter he how tried, Patrick could not get Athrun to release his past. At least Amalfi's boy avenged him.

Yet it was not enough. Other husbands and fathers--like Amalfi, how he envied the man for the brat's survival--risked his pain. He _had_ to create a safe world for the PLANTs. Patrick brushed his hand over Athrun's face again. "I'm sorry I wasn't in time for you," he whispered, "but I swear I'll get them all."

And he would. It was all he had left.

* * *

Asuran lay sprawled on his stomach, the open laptop before him. In the few hours after they picked up his supper tray, he had dissected Torii and carefully removed its memory. With luck, the bird had recorded something that would prove useful should an escape opportunity arise. Torii's programming allowed for it to automatically overwrite events and conversations related to imputed key words, symbols, or locations--A provision Asuran added after the head of Pele House decided to 'call the bird as a witness'--however, depending on the thoroughness of Kira's update, little pieces could slip through.

The fact that the Earth Forces allowed the robot to flit freely suggested that someone with authority had double-checked the parameters, though.

The laptop finished booting up. Asuran smiled as he saw Torii's memory registering as a new drive...

And wanted to kick himself a moment later when he looked at the memory filter and realized the bird wasn't programmed to block _anything _related to the Earth Forces. The details had some fuzzy edges, but Asuran knew that he had let a chance to take bird slip away. _Well, _he tried to console himself, _at least I'll find something. _

Asuran skimmed through and randomly opened a file. Torii peered down at a lunch tray. The bird sat on someone's shoulder, probably Kira's.

"Hey, Kira," a male voice spilled from the laptop. A teen with short brown hair approached Kira's table. The boy held a meal tray and wore a version of the OMNI Enforcer uniform similar to Flay's. However, his miniskirt and leggings were baby blue. His unbuttoned pink blouse revealed a slate gray tank top underneath. As the Earth Forces were supposedly stricter on military proprietary than ZAFT, the outfit left Asuran flabbergasted.

"Hey, Rick," Kira replied absently as he looked up. "Why're you wearing that?" he asked as Rick set his tray down in front of him.

A wide grin spread across Rick's face. "To piss off Badgerial, of course!" he replied as he crushed some crackers and stirred their remains into his stew. "Wearing the 'wrong'," Rick made quotation marks with his fingers, "uniform always got those bastards in charge of SOCIUS."

"And Professor Kato," Kira added dryly. "But why an OMNI uniform?"

"First off," Rick replied after his first bite of stew. "A little black dress in the classroom--while entertaining--is nothing compared to the ire of those who hold their uniform sacred. And second, why are you wearing one?"

"They said to wear it if I'm going to pilot the Strike." The tone of Kira's voice made Asuran wish he could see his brother's face. Unfortunately, Torii had turned to look at the table to the right.

...Sideways.

He heard Rick snort. "They'd let you drive it in a Speedo, so long as you do it. Still, it's a good way to know who's helping out. But since we're civilians, they can't dictate _how _we wear the uniform."

Asuran sat up at that. _Civilians? _he wondered. _Wh--_

_"Why are you with the Earth Forces?" Athrun demanded._

_"I'm not!" came the reply. "But on that ship are people I have to protect!" The Strike--_

The sight of a _child _running down the right side of the laptop's monitor drew Asuran out of his memory.

"...The bridge, Kim and I are helping out with maintenance, and Flay's determined to annoy her way into one of the torpedo crews. Hopefully, we'll reach Artemis without trouble. But if not... We may not be able to go out there with you, but we're not letting you do this alone."

"Yeah," a new voice piped up. A teenage boy and girl in properly worn OMNI uniforms joined them. "But don't you think the ZAFT uniforms are way cooler?" the boy continued as he set his tray down and reached out to tap Torii's head.

Asuran's jaw dropped at the face that filled the monitor. Like Rick, he had brown hair and green eyes, but completely different facial features. Features that Asuran knew well. "Tolle!?"

"I mean, even if we had rank badges, these'd still be kind of lame..."

* * *

Next: Nicol visits Lacus, Athrun strikes a bargain, and Patrick announces Spit Break.


End file.
